who are these personalities resting in the cemeteries of Gironde?

Lhe All Saints' Day weekend traditionally provides the opportunity to pay tribute to the graves of the deceased. Those of his parents or friends, but possibly also those of notable personalities. Many of them rest in the cemeteries of Gironde.

Clement V (Uzeste)

He is the only Girondin pope. Bertrand de Got, born in 1264 in Villandraut, led the Catholic Church under the name of Clement V from 1305 to 1314. A pontificate marked by his attempts to avoid the Hundred Years' War, by the abrogation of the order of the Temple and by its installation near Avignon, far from the pressures of King Philip the Fair and Roman intrigues.

According to the historian Jean-Pierre Poussou, his election above all reflects the “triumphant Christianity in Gironde land”, which is also evidenced by the royal portal of the Saint-André cathedral, in Bordeaux, built at the same time. Died near Avignon, Clément V was buried in the collegiate church of Uzeste, in South-Gironde. He left his name at the Château Pape Clément, in Pessac.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau (Saint-André-de-Cubzac)

Released in 1956, “The Silent World”, by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, is the only documentary to have received the Palme d'Or at Cannes (along with “Fahrenheit 9/11” by Michael Moore), before winning an Oscar in the United States. This shows the impact of this oceanographic explorer born in 1910 in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, and pioneer in the defense of the environment.

Between the 1960s and the 1990s, his television documentaries raised awareness among several generations of the beauties of underwater spaces and the need to preserve them. In particular thanks to an autonomous diving suit that he had patented in 1945. If it was at Notre-Dame de Paris that his funeral took place, in 1997, Jacques-Yves Cousteau was buried in his family's vault in Saint -André-de-Cubzac

Maurice Druon (Les Artigues-de-Lussac)

The name of Maurice Druon may not speak to all generations, but almost all French schoolchildren have heard or sung “Le Chant des Partisans”. The text was written in 1943 by this French writer, historian and politician (1918-2009). And this song quickly became the anthem of the Resistance.

Maurice Druon is also known for his historical saga “The Cursed Kings”, published from 1955, adapted for television in 1973, and which inspired the fantasy series “A Game of Thrones”. At his death, military honors were paid to him in the courtyard of the Hôtel des Invalides, in Paris, but it was in the Notre-Dame de la Faise abbey, in Artigues-de-Lussac, that he was buried.

Edmond Dujardin (Arcachon)

He is less known than his games. Edmond Dujardin marketed “The Laughing Pig” or the on-set adaptations of shows like “The Game of 1,000 Francs”. Born in Tourcoing in 1905, this printer had a brilliant idea by imagining “1,000 terminals” in 1954. Sales reached 10 million copies, with distribution in 11 countries.

Asthmatic, Edmond Dujardin settled in Arcachon in 1947 where he died in 1964. His business moved to La Teste-de-Buch then Cestas. In 2023, its turnover was 26 million euros. A success which perhaps rejoices the printer from his grave in the Arcachon cemetery.

Max Linder (Saint-Loubès)

A suicidal temperament for an actor and director who was one of the greatest comic stars of silent cinema, even influencing Charlie Chaplin: Max Linder is undoubtedly the Girondin whose cinematic career had the most scope. Between 1910 and 1914, he shot around a hundred short films, achieving worldwide success.

The First World War broke this momentum. Mobilized, gassed, Max Linder saw his health decline. Its attempts to reconquer the American market are not as successful as expected. He committed suicide in Paris in 1925, at the age of 41, and was buried in his hometown of Saint-Loubès. The town's college bears his name, as does the main high school in Libourne.

Michel de Montaigne (Bordeaux)

The location of the tomb of the philosopher, author of the “Essays”, has long been an enigma. Until the director of the Aquitaine Museum had a wire camera placed in the basement of the place and a coffin appeared where the Germans had begun to build a bunker during the Second World War. It was in 2019. In 2023, the body was clearly identified as that of Michel de Montaigne.

However, there is no question of coming to pay homage to him. This crypt is not accessible to the public, even if a feasibility study has been launched on this subject. In the meantime, visitors can still see the cenotaph (the coffin without a body inside) on display in the museum rooms dedicated to the 16th^e and 17^e centuries.

Omar Sahnoun (Saint-Jean-d’Illac)

Not all football fans remember Omar Sahnoun. However, this midfielder who can also play center back remains considered “a Zidane before his time” by no less than Michel Platini. The man who played for one season at the Girondins de Bordeaux (1979-80) was promised a brilliant career but he suffered from heart problems.

A first alert had notably made him give up the 1978 World Cup. The second accident, on April 21, 1980 during training, was fatal. His funeral was celebrated at the Saint-Jean-d'Illac cemetery. The coffin was carried by six players, first and foremost Alain Giresse and Bernard Lacombe.

Mort Shuman (Bordeaux)

“Papa-Tango-Charly” or “Sorrow”, the flagship song of the film “À nous les petits Anglaises” in the 70s: these are Mort Shuman’s main French hits. But this singer, author and composer born in Brooklyn to Polish Jewish parents above all had an international career, writing for Elvis Presley or adapting “Amsterdam” by Jacques Brel for Scott Walker and David Bowie.

He died in 1991 at the age of 52 from liver cancer and is buried in the suburbs of London. His remains were then transferred to France to a vault in the Pins Francs cemetery, in Bordeaux-Caudéran. This is where his wife and his in-laws lived.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Verdelais)

A small size (1.52 meters) for a great painter and draftsman, from a great lineage. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) belonged to one of the oldest noble families in France, but it is his artistic talents that have earned him recognition that is still intact in 2024: more than 6,000 paintings, lithographs or drawings. crossroads of impressionism and Art Nouveau, including many female portraits.

Alcoholic, syphilitic, weakened by a genetic disease, he died at just 36 years old at the Château de Malromé, where his mother had repatriated him after an attack of apoplexy. He is buried a few kilometers away, in the Verdelais cemetery.

Flora Tristan (Bordeaux)

Journalist, woman of letters, activist, Flora Tristan (1803-1844) is a personality typical of the upheavals which marked the first half of the 19th century.^e century. Fatherless, long victim of domestic violence, she emancipated herself through reading (Rousseau, Madame de Staël, etc.) before herself publishing texts in which she advocated the emancipation of the working class, internationalism and gender equality.

Engaged in a tour of France intended to promote her ideas, she died of typhoid fever while in Bordeaux. She is buried in the Chartreuse cemetery. A plaque in his memory will then be placed on rue des Bahutiers.